1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure sensor and an apparatus including the pressure sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In pump apparatuses used in the medical field, infusion tubes that deliver infusion solutions such as chemical solutions and dialysates must be controlled so as not to be clogged during solution delivery operation. For this purpose, some pump apparatuses detect clogging of an infusion tube using a pressure sensor. In a pump apparatus including such a pressure sensor, maintenance work is required to be performed that dismounts the pressure sensor from the pump apparatus and cleans the pressure sensor in order to enable clogging of the infusion tube to be detected continuously with high precision. Given this backdrop, a structure of the pressure sensor mountable and dismountable on and from the apparatus is developed (refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-315792).
However, in the conventional structure of the pressure sensor, when the pressure sensor, which has been further downsized, is mounted or dismounted, an operator pinches a base of the pressure sensor with fingers or the like to apply pressure from side (side pressure) to the base of the pressure sensor, which may break the base of the pressure sensor. This problem may occur more conspicuously when the size of a mounting width for the pressure sensor is smaller than the size of the pressure sensor. Given these circumstances, a pressure sensor that can prevent the base from being broken by the application of side pressure to the base even for a more downsized pressure sensor has been demanded.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to provide a pressure sensor and an apparatus that can prevent a base of the pressure sensor from being broken by the application of side pressure to the base of the pressure sensor.